


I am Titanium

by iamgoku



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Phil Coulson, Bisexual Tony Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, Depressed Tony Stark, F/F, F/M, Female Tony Stark, Her kids help her heal, Hulk Talks (Marvel), Hurt Nebula (Marvel), Hurt Tony Stark, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, Loki (Marvel) Feels, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark Coparenting Peter Parker, Nebula is a Teenager, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Melinda May, Protective Phil Coulson, Protective Tony Stark, Toni adopts Nebula, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:48:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28218720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamgoku/pseuds/iamgoku
Summary: After the so called 'Civil War' Toni Stark is left damaged and spiralling into the bottom of a bottle trying to find a way out of the shadow left by Siberia.Salvation comes unexpectedly however after a run in with a Squirrel Powered homeless teen and Toni finds herself back on track to being the hero she once was.With the help of her friends and family she shows the world and The Rogues that Iron Maiden cannot be broken so easily, and Stark Women are made of Titanium.
Relationships: Bruce Banner/Caiera, Caiera/Hulk, Doreen Green & Peter Parker, Doreen Green & Tony Stark, Happy Hogan & Tony Stark, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker (Spider-Man) & Tony Stark, Melinda May/Tony Stark, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Nebula & Tony Stark, Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Phil Coulson & Melinda May & Tony Stark, Phil Coulson & Tony Stark, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Phil Coulson/Tony Stark, Sharon Carter & Tony Stark, Skye | Daisy Johnson & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Hope Van Dyne, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark & Vision, Tony Stark/Melinda May/Phil Coulson
Comments: 15
Kudos: 67





	I am Titanium

**Author's Note:**

> I cannot fully explain where this idea came from to be honest.
> 
> I was writing the 12th chapter for 'A New Team (Done Right), and suddenly this popped into my head. 
> 
> I'll admit to enjoying writing it however, and hope you do to. 
> 
> As on my other Team Iron Man stories, comments are moderated due to trolls. I am not putting up with that crap in my comment section, sorry (well, not really sorry)
> 
> I hope you enjoy, and if you're wondering. I personally chose Milla Jovovich for Toni's face claim in my head, but feel free to picture her however you want.
> 
>   
> 

Toni didn’t know how long she’d been walking the street, or more accurately stumbling along since she’d left that dive bar. Her body’s sluggish and uncoordinated movements only served in getting her increasingly lost.

Or was it lost when you had no planned destination? 

The reason she’d gone out this evening was to get away from everything, the Tower, the Compound, Friday’s incessant worrying and asking if she was ok.

She was not ok.

While she knew the AI was only trying to help, and looking out for her, Toni just couldn’t deal with it right now and had left the Tower in a rush, ignoring the concerned calls of her baby girl as she headed to the nearest bar, and that led to another and another. 

She had made sure to hide her more noticeable features, and the beanie, sunglasses, and baggy coat she wore made her seemingly unrecognisable, it helped that she hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in over two weeks and the lack of makeup was showing her baggy eyes and utter look of fatigue she seemed to have constantly plastered onto her face.

Vision, Rhodey, Pepper and Happy had been concerned and tried to help her after the so called ‘Civil War’. And while she’d started out well, having focused on fixing Rhodey’s leg braces and restoring the compound, the resulting distractions didn’t last long, and soon after she found herself steeped in the aftermath of Steve’s decisions. 

She couldn’t seem to escape it, the media hounding her on what she was planning to do about it, as if she had answers or was in any position to go hunting them down. She was barely in a position to remember to eat regularly or bathe right now. 

The constant memory of Siberia flashed through her mind multiple times daily, as did the sight of Rhodey falling out of the sky. Or the kid smashing through those crates and into the concrete after the giant guy had hit him. 

God why had she taken a kid to a fight? 

Oh that’s right, cause she thought they could talk it out like adults. Because she thought that they were her friends and that fighting would be a last case and unlikely scenario, because Steve wouldn’t take things that far. 

Only she had been wrong. Steve fought them without any hesitation or pulling his punches. He dropped a fucking jet bridge on top of the kid as well, which was something Toni kept having flashes of too. 

And he’d lied to her. 

Ever since the fall of SHIELD he had known about her parents and kept it from her, all to protect Barnes, instead of telling her the truth back then and seeking a way to bring Barnes in and get him help.

Toni would be the first to admit she reacted in anger, but anyone would if they saw their mother and father murdered before their very eyes and the killer was standing right next to them. And knowing that someone who she thought was a teammate had lied to her about it for so long.

And he had the balls to talk to her about keeping secrets when they were hiding out at Barton’s place during the whole Ultron fiasco. And even afterwards, when she was able to prove that she and Bruce were not responsible for Ultron’s creation, that it had been the work of the alien presence in Loki’s sceptre, which she was later able to discover was a malicious presence that had been built up over years of misuse of the mind stone, and had proven it in a court of law of their innocence, Steve still distrusted her and denied the evidence presented to him, until the point where Toni just stopped arguing with him.

Bringing herself back to the present, Toni felt her stomach lurch as the concoction of various alcohols, many of which were not meant to be mixed together, combined with the random food she’d shoved down her throat in between bar hopping suddenly began to protest against her and made her duck into the opening of an alley and empty the contents of her stomach.

Vomiting onto the ground and sinking down to a crouch as she couldn’t hold any of it in, she was sure her shoes were ruined but couldn’t find any reason to care.

Before Toni could even attempt to right herself she was grabbed from behind and pulled further into the alley. Quickly finding herself thrust harshly against the wall of the alley and seeing a hooded figure standing there holding a knife towards her. 

He was young from what Toni could tell underneath the sports hoodie and sunglasses, and glancing around quickly.

“Give me your fucking wallet and no one has to get hurt!” 

Toni merely stared at him for a moment, blinking behind her own sunglasses. 

“Are you seriously robbing me right now?” she asked, not really out of confusion but of the absurdness of the act. If she had a suit right now it wouldn’t have mattered, or even if she was sober. Most wouldn’t realize it, but Toni had learned self defence over the years, some before Afghanistan but more heavily afterwards. Though she knew her current level of intoxication would hinder her skills. 

“You think I’m joking bitch!” he threatened again, holding the knife closer and pushing her against the wall once more. 

“Honestly I am in no state to really care, and trust me this doesn’t even register on my threat level, so why don’t you just-” Toni began only to be cut off as she was hit across the face and sent to the ground, momentarily stunned as her glasses fell to the floor and she shook her head slightly, her beanie falling to the ground. 

The mugger was about to move near her again when a sudden voice called out from above.

“Stop right there evil doer!”

Toni glanced up in confusion in the direction of the voice to see a shadowed figure up above on a fire escape. 

Was it Peter? No, the voice didn’t match. 

That horny red guy? No the voice sounded way too young, and feminine now that she thought about it.

The Mugger looked up in confusion as well as Toni tried to regain her composure, reaching down to push herself up slowly.

While doing it she heard a clanging sound, before the young voice exclaimed.

“Darn it! My leg’s stuck in the fire escape” Toni heard before a series of grunts resounded out.

“Get him Joey!” she heard before the mugger let out a scream and was thrashing around, Toni saw the knife fall to the ground and managed to stand up and turn around just in time to see the shadowed figure drop to the floor. She also saw the Mugger thrashing around still as there was something latched onto his face.

Toni’s hazy confusion turned to surprise as the shadowy figure, who lifted the taller mugger up off the ground and threw him further into the alley with ease, defying their own small stature. 

Waiting several seconds the mugger scrambled to his feet with a pained groan and ran off into the night.

“That’s right! You better run!” the figure said, as Toni’s vision adjusted more she could see the person who had saved her turn around and walk towards her, their eyes glowing red in a somewhat menacing way.

“Are you ok Ms?” 

Toni ran a hand down her face and shook her head slightly, unsure if what she was seeing was real. Her mysterious saviour looked like a kid….scratch that, as she stepped further into the light coming from the street Toni could see she was a kid, definitely around Peter’s age. 

She was short, standing at about 5 ft 2, had long messy ginger hair that looked like it hadn’t been cut in a long time. Her red glowing eyes turned into a light shade of brown as she stepped into the light more, and Toni saw a large bushy tail twitching slightly behind her, and a few freckles on her cheeks. She was dressed in an old brown bomber jacket which looked like it had seen better days, a rumpled grey t-shirt, some long green cargo pants which were tucked into a pair of laced boots which looked a size too large for her. She also had a pair of black fingerless gloves on, and a belt which looked like something a construction worker would have with a number of buttoned pouches. 

“Oh golly! You’re Toni Stark!” the kid exclaimed in a bubbly voice, showing off a pair of buck teeth as she grinned, causing Toni to again realize her glasses and beanie had been discarded in her fall. 

“Ummm” Toni began, unsure exactly what to say in this situation, stumbling back slightly as she ran a hand over her stinging cheek.

“Are you ok Ms Stark?” the kid said walking closer, a squirrel climbing up her leg and resting on her shoulder, making Toni blink slowly before trying to regain her composure.

“Uh, yeah kid I’m fine.” she said as she further took in the kid’s appearance once more. 

“That’s great, I was out on patrol when I heard that guy trying to mug you and sprang into action” she said happily, placing her hands on her hips before laughing sheepishly.

“It would have been a much cooler landing, but my foot got caught in the fire escape up there. But luckily I had Joey here to help me out” 

“Joey?” Toni asked in confusion.

“Yeah, short for Monkey Joe. He’s my sidekick and best pal” she said motioning to the squirrel currently resting on her shoulder. The squirrel in question gave a few chattering sounds, which Toni heard the girl reply in the same chattering noises before switching to English. 

“I know right, this is so cool” the kid said quietly to the squirrel.

 _“Ok, either I am way more drunk than I thought I was. Or I was just saved by what looks like some kind of militant super powered girl scout’_ Toni thought to herself tiredly.

“I guess I should thank you then…” Toni began, silently prompting the girl for a name. 

“Oh, my name’s Squirrel Girl Ms Stark, nice to meet you” she said offering her hand, Toni reciprocate the gesture and felt that the kid had one hell of a handshake, though seeing her toss that other guy into the alley as easily as she had despite her short frame, it didn’t surprise her that much.

_‘Squirrel Girl...of course that’s her name’_

“Do you need to call anyone? If your phone’s not working I can give you some quarters for a payphone. Though you’re Toni Stark, you probably always have a phone or something on you” Squirrel Girl said as Toni remembered she did in fact have her phone on her, reaching down into her pants pocket and pulling it out.

She had turned it off when she left the Tower, not wanting to be disturbed from drowning herself in booze, but now was thankful she had thought to bring it. Holding the power button for a moment, she saw the familiar Stark Industries logo pop up.

Toni was bombarded with a number of texts, and scrolled through them before sending a text to Happy and asking if he could come pick her up, sending the directions after seeing a nearby street sign, after she did she pocketed the phone once more and retrieved her glasses and beanie, noticing the kid was still there.

“So uh, you’re out late” Toni said, before internally groaning, that was the best thing she could say. Here was a kid around Peter’s age out in the middle of the night...or was it the early morning? Toni hadn’t bothered to check the time on her phone. 

But here was a kid out, at a time even Peter was usually asleep, running around in a homemade outfit fighting muggers.

And that was all she could say? 

“Well yeah, I usually don’t stay out this late, but decided on doing some extra patrol tonight. I was on my way back to the park when I-” Squirrel Girl began before her eyes widened momentarily and she closed her mouth quickly, a nervous look on her face.

 _‘Did she just say the park? Why would she…’_ Toni thought in confusion before she looked at the kid with more scrutiny. Noting the slight sunken appearance of her cheeks, the fact that her hair looked like it hadn’t been cut in months, or washed in a few days, as well as the crumpled worn look all of her clothes had, they too were in need of cleaning. Speaking of her clothing, she noticed how the kid’s pants seemed to be held up only by the belt which was pulled extra tight around her too thin waist.

 _‘Oh fuck...this kid’s homeless’_ Toni internally cursed, coming to the realization as she stared at the girl who was trying to avoid eye contact. 

It clicked for Toni as she remembered all the reports over the past two months of vandalism in Central Park decreasing, and about half a dozen late night visitors had been saved from muggings by a strange girl they never got a good look at. And the muggers had all refused to give a proper description.

 _‘Probably too embarrassed to admit they got their asses handed to them by a 9th grader’_ Toni thought as she looked at the girl before speaking up once again.

“So your parents are cool with you running around all night like this, or do you keep it secret from them?” Toni asked, knowing the probable answer that was coming, but the girl remained silent for a moment, not looking at her.

“Squirrel girl?” she asked, causing the girl to look at her and Toni’s noticed her eyes were now moistening quickly.

_‘Oh shit, crying kid, code red!’_

“Y-You’re not gonna just drop it and let me walk away, are you?” she asked quietly. 

At hearing her frightened tone, Toni felt the urge rise up in her to hug the kid, or alternatively go for another drink.

“Look kid, I’m not going to arrest you...unless you killed someone or anything like that” Toni added in a lighter joking tone, but the kid obviously took it seriously as she shook her head frantically.

“No no! Nothing like that, honest!...I mean I might have accidentally broke a guy's arm one night, but he was a real jerk.” 

Toni nodded before she replied. “So, parents?” 

Squirrel Girl looked down to the ground, shuffling her feet slightly as Joey leaned in against the side of her head in a hug like gesture.

“Just my mom,” she said quietly. “And...And she doesn’t want to see me”

Toni read between the lines of that statement, and while not knowing the full picture, was getting enough of an idea of what had happened, or what she thought happened to paint her own picture.

“So you’re not living anywhere at the moment?” Toni asked curiously.

“Well, not a proper house or apartment or anything. I do have my own set up though, it’s actually kind of cool” Squirrel Girl said in a happier tone which Toni could see through a mile away, as well as the now forced smile the ginger girl was giving her.

The sound of a car pulling up nearby caught Toni’s attention and she turned to see Happy there, getting out and rushing over to her. Toni met him halfway and he checked her over for any injuries.

Even after all these years, and her being a literal superhero Happy still worried. 

Though her earlier exasperation at her friends was melting away as she smiled and let him check her over. “I’m fine Happy, really”

“You’re drunk”

“Not as much as I was before”

“And it’s two AM”

“Oh, is it? Sorry I didn’t realise, thanks for coming to get me” she said causing Happy’s frown to disappear as he couldn’t help but smile.

“Don’t worry about it” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “Come on, let’s get you home”

Toni however didn’t make a move towards the car, turning around she looked and saw the kid backed up further into the alley. 

“Hold on Happy” she said before she walked back towards her, causing Squirrel Girl to shrink back more before Toni placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Come on kid”

“What?” she asked in confusion.

“I cannot in good conscious let you sleep outside tonight”

“I-It’s not outside Ms Stark, really I-”

“Or whatever campfire sing along shindig you’re pulling. Here’s the deal, you come back to Stark Tower tonight, have a shower and a hot meal, and you can crash in one of the residential area guest rooms. Then tomorrow we can talk more.” Toni said seriously, causing the kid to look at her skeptically. 

“R-Really?” she asked quietly, her eyes still moistened over from before.

“No, I regularly offer people a room in my Tower and get their hopes up before running off into the night and laughing maniacally at their sadness” Toni said flatly, before a small genuine smile came over her face.

“Yes really, you helped me out tonight kid. And now I’m going to help you out” she said moving to her side and motioning to the car. “What do you say?”

“Y-You won’t call the cops on me?” 

“Nope”

A moment passed before Toni saw the girl nod quickly, she swore she heard her stomach rumble and mentally was thankful that her fridge was fully stocked. 

Walking back over to the car, she noticed Happy’s perplexed expression but silently shook her head and mouthed that she would explain later. 

Before they could step into the car, she turned to the kid. 

“You might want to take that tail off before you sit down”

“Oh, that’s ok Ms Stark it doesn’t get in the way when I sit down. Plus it’s kinda hard to take off something that’s a part of my body” she said as the tail twitched and swished around in the air.

“So I wasn’t seeing things before...that’s a real tail…” Toni said with slight shock blinking momentarily before shaking her head.

“Not the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, ok let’s roll” she said as she hopped in before being followed by the teen, who was looking at the interior of the car with interest, Toni then hearing the squirrel chattering away in the girls lap.

“Oh right, I forgot to properly introduce myself” Squirrel Girl said, turning to Toni with a smile. “My name’s Doreen, Doreen Green”

Toni returned the smile and offered her hand once again to her, which Doreen shook this time more lightly. 

“Nice to meet you, Doreen”

As they drove back through the city, Toni was internally wondering just what the hell she was doing, as well as contemplating just how the inevitable conversation tomorrow was going to be. 

But glancing over at the young teen who was staring out the window, Toni couldn’t help but think she had done somewhat of a right thing. 

**Author's Note:**

> So there you have it. 
> 
> This story starts after Civil War, but before Homecoming. Toni has kept more in contact with Peter, and has done some more hands on mentoring earlier with Peter here than in the films, but May is still unaware of Peter's Spider-Man identity....for now.
> 
> I cannot promise fast updates, especially since I'm working on multiple team iron man stories at once (that is me shamelessly plugging my team iron man works, maybe give them a look?) 
> 
> But I do have ideas for this, including fluffy family content, drama, feels, Hurt Toni healing, etc.
> 
> Nebula will be appearing later on, and as you can see from the tags she will be a Teenager. We don't really know how old Nebula is, she could be a teen or young adult in canon, or could be like 50 earth years old, who knows. 
> 
> But in this story, she's a Teenager (her exact age will be revealed when she appears) 
> 
> I have some more ideas for surprise plot reveals, but don't want to spoil too much. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and please leave a kudos or comment down below, I appreciate all the feedback I receive, and try and respond to comments promptly when I can.


End file.
